Mail-bag-handling apparatus.



N 0 1 PATENTED JUNE 9 1908.

o 89 A 5 J. D. DOWELL.

MAIL BAG HANDLING APPARATUS. APPLIOATION FILED MAR.3.190 8.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

witnesses amuomtoz '4 JEFFERSON D. DOW-ELL,

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PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908.

J. D. DOWBLL. MAIL BAG HANDLING APPARATUS.

PPLIOATION FILED MAR. 3, 190 A B 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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JEFFERSON D. DOWELL, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

MAIL-BAG-HANDLING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JEFFERSON D. DowELL, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-BagHandling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement in apparatus for handling mail bags indischarging the same from and delivering them to moving cars; and theinvention consists in certain novel constructions and combinations ofparts as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a carprovided wlth my improvements. Fig. 2 is a detail top plan view, the carbeing partly in section, of means for delivering and receiving mailbags. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing a portion of a car and means fordelivering bags therefrom. Fig. 4. is a detail vertical sectionillustrating the bag carrier as tilted upwardly at the lower end of itsmovement. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a bag discharging meansdiffering somewhat in detail construction from that shown in Figs. 1 to4 inclusive. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view illustratin thedischarging spring construction empdoyed in Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 is asectional view illustrating the bag catching means used in theconstruction shown in Fig. 5.

In carrying out my invention as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, I provide inconnection with the car A, a track base B, which is pivoted at its upperforward end B so that its other end may swing out and in with res ect tothe car, and the pivot B is sufficiently oose to permit the rear end Bof the track to move vertically so that when the track is pushed out tothe position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it may lower to the position shownin Fig. 3 forming a suitable incline down which the bag carrier maytravel with considerable speed in discharging the bags from the car.Near its rear end the track has connected with it the outer end of aslide plate C which passes through an opening at A into the car andconnects with a lever D by which the track B may be moved out and in atits rear end in the operation of themvention. Thus in operation, when itis desired to deliver bags the lever D may be operated to throw the rearend of the track B out away from the car as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 andafter the bag has been discharged the lever D may be operated toreadjust the track B close to the car so it will not strike Obstructionsalong side of the railway. For supporting the lower rear end of thetrack in both of its positions, I provide a chain E connected at itsouter end with the track B near the rear end of the latter and extendedthence up through an opening A in the side of the car A where the chainmay be secured in any suitable manner, such for instance as by catchingone of its links over a pin A in the car as will be understood from Fig.2 of the drawing. By the described construction, the track may beadjusted out and in at its rear end and may be supported at such endwhen in position for use as well as when adjusted close to the side ofthe car.

The bag carrier F is movable along the track from the position shown inFigs. 2 and 3 to that shown in Fig. 1, and comprises a body F which maybe flared or may be in dove-tail form to fit the track B which latter issimilarly formed as shown in Fig. 1, and a tilting saddle F pivoted at Fto the body F and having a tongue F beyond said pivot in position toabut the lower end of the track when the carrier reaches its lowestposition.

A buffer F of rubber or the like may be provided as shown in Figs. 1 and4 to cushion the stroke of the tongue F against the track. In theoperation of this construction, the mail bag will be placed in thesaddle F when the latter is in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, andthen as the carrier moves quickly down the bag will be carried to thelower end of the track where the saddle will be tilted forcibly to theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 4 to eject the mail bag and deliver thesame sufficiently far from the railway to prevent any injury to thedelivered bag.

The carrier F may be readjusted from the position shown in Fig. 1 tothat shown in Figs. 2 and 3, by means of the cord G connected with thecarrier passing over a guide pulley G and leading into the car, and whenso readjusted will compress a spring H and be held by a latch I untilthe bag is placed in thesaddle. VVhenthebagisplacedinthesaddle the latchI may be released and the spring H being under compression will startthe carrier quickly down the track to discharge the bag as desired. Thusin this operation I am able to provide a track on which is mounted acarrier, which carrier has a tilting saddle and may be held in place toreceive a bag and then be released to permit a starting spring toinitiate a movement of the carrier down its track toward dischargingposition, and the track may be conveniently adjusted into and out ofposition to discharge the bag, the entire manipulation of the track andcarrier being carried on safely from within the car. It will beunderstood that the car is moving in the direction indicated by thearrows in Figs. 1 and 2, and in order to receive a bag from any suitablecrane alongside of the track, I provide a hook J, see Figs. 1 and 2,which hook is pivoted at J and has its pivot in the form of a bolt onwhich is mounted a winged nut J 2 which may be tightened to clamp theshank J of the hook to such an extent as to hold the said hook fromfreely swinging on its pivot and yet will permit the swinging of saidhook when engaged with a bag in which event the hook will swing from theposition shown in full lines, Fig. 2, to the position indicated indotted lines in the same figure, and when in the latter position will beheld by a spring catch J within the car. This construction enables me tocatch a bag from alongside of the track and to swing the same into thecar and to hold it when so swung so that the bag can be taken off fromwithin the car.

In Fig. 5 I show a somewhat different construction for discharging thebags from the car. In this construction shown in Fig. 5, I employ atrack alongside the car and inclined toward its rear end and swinging atsuch end out and in with respect to the car, together with means forholding the bag carrier which in this construction is a ring K, and forinitiating the movement of the bag carrier down the inclined track aswell as means operated from within the car for adjusting the inclinedtrack toward and from the car. I also provide in this construction amechanism for holding the bag carrier until it is desired to release thesame against the tension of its starting spring all of which will bemore fully described. In the construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 thetrack is a rod L having at its upper end a horizontal shaft L journaledin bearings L mounted on the car alongside the doorway A and theinclined track L merges at its upper end in an upright portion L whichis made hollow at L to receive the latch L and the cord L for releasingsaid latch as best shown in Fig. 6. A spring M encircles the uprightportion L of the track and will be compressed by the carrier ring K whenthe latter is adjusted to the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6 in whichposition it will be held bythe latch L until the bag is applied to thecarrier K, after which the lever N may be operated to throw the track Lout away from the car and the cord L can be pulled to operate the latchL to release the carrier K when the starting spring M will operate toinitiate the rapid movement of the carrier down the track. In thisconstruction the hook O for catching the bag may be arranged to operatesimilarly to the hook J of the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 ofthe drawing, the said hook being carried by and movable with the trackdevices for discharging the bag.

It will be understood that in operation the inclination of the tracktowards its discharging end and the action of the starting springproduces an acceleration of movement suflicient to overcome the momentumof the train so that when the carrier comes to a stop at the lower endof the track it would have a tendency to throw the bag off and thelittle kick given by the tongue of the saddle to the bag will aid. inthrowing the bag sufficiently far from the railroad to avoid any injuryto the delivered bag.

I claim:

1. In a mail bag delivering device, the combination of a car, a trackpivoted at its forward end thereto and movable at its rear end laterallyand vertically with respect to the car, a plate connecting with the rearend of the track and extending thence into the car, means connected withthe plate for moving the track out and in, a supporting device extendingbetween the rear end of the track and the car, a bag carrier movablealong the track and having a body portion and a saddle pivoted thereto,and having a projecting tongue adapted to abut the track, and tilt thesaddle to eject a bag when the carrier is in its lowermost position,means for retracting the carrier, a spring under compression and actingupon the carrier when the latter is in its starting osition, andlatching devices for holding t 1e carrier in such position,substantially as set forth.

2. A mail. bag delivering device comprising a track, and a carriermovable along the track and comprising a body portion and a saddlemounted thereon and adapted to tilt to discharge a bag- 3. In a mail bagdelivering device the combination of a track and a bag carrier movablethereon, and having a tilting saddle whereby to eject a bag.

4. A mail bag discharging device comprising a track, and a bag carriermovable thereon and comprising a body portion and a saddle pivotedthereto, and having a projecting tongue adapted to engage an abutmentwhereby to tilt the saddle and discharge a bag, substantially as setforth.

5. The combination of a car, a track alongside of and incliningoutwardly away from the car, and a bag carrier movable along the trackand having bag ejecting means.

6. The combination of a track inclining downwardly toward its rear end,means for moving said track out and in with respect to the car, a bagcarrier movable alongside the track and retaining means for holding thebag from such movement along the track.

7. A bag discharging means comprising a track inclining outwardly andrearwardly with respect to the car, a bag carrier movable along thetrack, means for holding the said carrier in starting position and forreleasing the same, and a starting spring put under compression by thebag carrier when the latter is adjusted to starting position.

8. In an apparatus for handling mail bags, the combination With a car,of a receiving hook having a shank, a pivot for such shank having meansfor clamping the shank from free movement, and a latch for holding thesaid hook When adjusted in operation into the car.

9. The combination of a car, a track pivoted at its forward end thereto,and adapted at its rear end to move laterally and vertically withrespect to the car, means operated from within the car for adjusting thetrack laterally thereto, a supporting device, connected With the rearend of the track, and leading thence into the car, a bag carrier havinga body portion held to and movable longitudinally along the track and asaddle pivoted to the body portion and having a projecting tongue forabutting the track whereby the saddle may be tilted to discharge a bag,means for retracting the carrier, a starting spring put undercompression by the carrier When the latter is adjusted to startingposition, and a latch for holding the carrier in starting position andfor releasing the same substantially as described.

10. The combination of a car, a bag delivering device comprising a trackconnected at one end With the car, a carrier movable along the track andhaving a tilting saddle adapted to receive a bag and to discharge thesame and a slide bar between the track and car, substantially as setforth.

JEFFERSON D. DOXVELL. l/Vitnesses:

EDITH Boorn, J. A. RAYNOLDS.

